What do you Drive?

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #120 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:16:32 PM

I keep hearing rumors that one day we'll be seeing a Wrangler with the Hemi that cuts out four of it's cylinders too. When/if that ever comes out I will be a really happy Def...

Def

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #121 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:17:27 PM

Quote from: Whoey on March 20, 2013, 08:26:37 PM

I have to say, your new VW is far nicer than the old one

Funny, I don't recall too many complaints about the old one at the time!

Def

Pacu · **Reply #122 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:27:35 PM

americans are screaming for a diesel jeep...but no. Drop a caterpillar in one, slap a bed on the back a touch bigger than the scramblers...awesome.

ive seen hemi conversions in jeeps..need factory spec ones with dana 60s front and back. Some guy around here has a jeep converted to a truck with one of those aftermarket kits. looks great. I think a jeep truck would sell. Hell, i still see old model 4.0 jeep trucks every now and then still going.

Def, how you liking the pentastar engine?

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #123 on:** March 20, 2013, 10:56:48 PM

I'm not sold on it yet. It tends to rev higher than I ever had to with my 4.0. I'm convinced it eats more gas too, although I've no solid numbers to base that on. It is a lot nicer on the highway than the old one, but that's probably more attributable to the longer wheelbase than it is the engine.

All in all I'm happy with it, which is good because I'm stuck with it for a while. I still miss the visibility and agility of the old one though.

As for the Hemi conversions, I've seen those but I'd feel better getting one from the factory.

Def

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derekmac · **Reply #124 on:** March 20, 2013, 11:17:12 PM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on March 20, 2013, 08:11:16 PM

Good luck with the Elantra! I hope it works better for you than the Civic did. My brother has the Touring version (wagon) and he loves it.

Def

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Thanks! I think we're both going to love it. Here's a pic of it.

Pacu · **Reply #125 on:** March 20, 2013, 11:17:52 PM

i had to take out the head rests in the back seat of my ole one to increase visibility out of the back soft top window. My windows were starting to get that scratchy dull glaze jeep windows get with age.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #126 on:** March 20, 2013, 11:27:30 PM

I notice a huge difference in visibility when the seats are folded down.

Def

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Grumpy · **Reply #127 on:** March 21, 2013, 01:44:25 AM

My Merc E250

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #128 on:** March 21, 2013, 02:00:20 AM

An E class? Sweet. Very dignified!

Some day I hope to own a G, but that's largely because I like trucks more than cars, and the big G is the truck version of the E.

Def

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Grumpy · **Reply #129 on:** March 21, 2013, 02:13:57 AM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on March 21, 2013, 02:00:20 AM

An E class? Sweet. Very dignified!

Some day I hope to own a G, but that's largely because I like trucks more than cars, and the big G is the truck version of the E.

Def

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Thanks i've had some funny looks when i get outta it esp in warmer weather, as i'm covered in tats, people obv think the wrong thing! my uncle drives a g wagon on his farm!! it goes anywhere

day to day i drive my old forester

THE_LONGBOW · **Reply #130 on:** March 21, 2013, 02:42:14 AM

My ride a 2012 International V8 Diesel

I do not know the guy in the picture.

Whoey · **Reply #131 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:44:54 AM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on March 20, 2013, 10:17:27 PM

Quote from: Whoey on March 20, 2013, 08:26:37 PM
I have to say, your new VW is far nicer than the old one

Funny, I don't recall too many complaints about the old one at the time!

Def

of course...

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #132 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:56:34 AM

Quote from: THE_LONGBOW on March 21, 2013, 02:42:14 AM

My ride a 2012 International V8 Diesel

(Image removed from quote.)

I do not know the guy in the picture.

Nice rig! You must have the patience of a saint to drive one of those things!

Def

THE_LONGBOW · **Reply #133 on:** March 21, 2013, 01:56:09 PM

Lets just say we have a good rapport. I respect them and they respect me. Plus it helps I really enjoy my job.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #134 on:** March 21, 2013, 02:36:41 PM

That's great. I had mostly good bus drivers when I was a kid, but then in my day if a kid mouthed off the bus stopped wherever it was an Junior was tossed out and had to walk home.

Def

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nuphoria · **Reply #135 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:17:02 PM

School buses aren't very common here, probably a good thing

I've been driving a Skoda Fabia diesel estate for over a year now. Lot of car for the money, and proving to be really economical and reliable too

Oh, and it's black.... because that's the new black

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #136 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:28:54 PM

You can't get Skoda around here. They haven't imported them since the 80's I think.

Def

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nuphoria · **Reply #137 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:33:14 PM

Shame, they use the same parts as higher ends cars including VW, but cost a lot less

Grumpy · **Reply #138 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:37:15 PM

Quote from: nuphoria on March 21, 2013, 11:33:14 PM

Shame, they use the same parts as higher ends cars including VW, but cost a lot less

An the reliability rate is higher than both VW & Seat

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #139 on:** March 21, 2013, 11:51:48 PM

All we get from the European brands are BMW, Mercedes, Mini, Land Rover, Jaguar, Smart, Volvo, VW, Porsche and Audi. And we don't even get the full lines of all of those.

Def

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nuphoria · **Reply #140 on:** March 22, 2013, 02:21:27 PM

Is the market mainly US and Japanese made over there?

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #141 on:** March 22, 2013, 03:33:35 PM

Pretty well. We have a few token European cars, mostly represented by VW here. Volvos are nice, but too expensive here. In fact, they are in the same price range as many higher end vehicles- for example the C30, a very nice little car starts at just under $30,000. My VW Golf was the upper middle trim line and the sticker on it was $27,000.

The cheaper SUV, the SC60 starts at $39,350. My (almost) fully loaded four door Jeep Sahara came in at around the $37,000 mark.

Mini's also suffer pretty bad. The basic 2 door Mini (the small one) starts at $28,950! That is actually the starting point on the Golf GTi, and again, I think the GTi is a better car than the base model Mini.

Also by comparison, the Mercedes GLK (small SUV, based on the C Class platform) is about $43,000, which means if you are in the $40k market are you more likely to buy a Volvo or a Mercedes? Chances are you are going German.

I would also say that about four out of every ten cars here are Asian with Toyota and Honda leading the pack, which I find kind of odd. Four are American and two are European.

Asian cars used to be super cheap and that's why they got popular here, but they aren't so cheap anymore. For example, when we were looking for a car for my wife we went to see the Honda Fit, Mazda 2, Kia Rio 5 and eventually the VW Golf. We almost didn't bother going to VW because they are usually relatively expensive. The Fit started at $24,000 with no options and was a piece of junk to drive. The Mazda (originally we went to see the 3 as the 2 had just been released, but Kim decided she liked the 2 better) came decently equipped at about $22,000 but had an amazingly weak feeling front end, something that didn't inspire a lot of confidence on our very rough roads. The Rio was the cheapest at something like $18,000 with lots of features and options but no comfort and was actually the worst of the three to actually drive. VW was an afterthought and we got the Golf fairly well equipped for $24,000 as it was a dealer demo- and it is an actual German one, not the cheaper Mexican ones that you see a lot of here.

Also, as I mentioned in the Tire Kicking thread, I looked at the FJ Cruiser and Nissan XTerra and both started at around $40k, while the 4 door Wrangler started around $24,000. Both Toyota and Nissan were adamant that it was because theirs was tougher than a Jeep. I have to roll my eyes at that one, as Jeep is the icon for tough, and, as I found out later, both the FJ and the XTerra have independent front suspension, not a solid front axle. The XTerra also suffers from a terrible interior and the FJ suffers from terrible visibility and the fact that it's a giant lumbering truck with almost no suspension.

So why people are buying Asian cars here is a heck of a mystery to me. The ones I have driven did not impress me in the slightest, and certainly are not worth the price tags on them.

Def

Pacu · **Reply #142 on:** March 22, 2013, 03:39:45 PM

do yall have land rover defenders up there Def? they are rare here in the states.

those things are awesome. I see a few mercedes G suvs down here. Usually driven by ultra rich soccer moms, trophey wives. I wanna see one in the sticks covered in red mud.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #143 on:** March 22, 2013, 04:08:45 PM

Yes, we have Land Rovers, but not the full line. We don't get Defenders up here, which is the one I want. We get the Range Rovers, RR Sports, LR2's, LR4's and the Evoques but that's it for Rovers.

Rovers are becoming more and more popular here. You can get into the Evoque and LR2 for just over $40k and they are actually really good vehicles now they have escaped Ford ownership. Them and Jags were horrid for years, but now they are owned by Whatsisface in India they are very highly regarded. The rumor is that when Whatsisface bought Jag and Rover he toured the factories and asked the engineers how much it would cost to make them good again. The engineers told him some insane figure and he wrote them a cheque to cover it on the spot.

The Canadian military drives G Wagons. The military versions are very much different from the G55's you see driving around with rich soccer moms, although the G55 will do 0-60 faster than a 5L Mustang, which is very impressive for a 2 tonne SUV. When you strip it of all the heavy luxuries and gear that much power into driving a beefed up military 4x4 system you have some real raw power.

Def

Reinier · **Reply #144 on:** March 22, 2013, 06:05:43 PM

Wow, I can't believe how much cheaper those cars are in Canada compared to the Netherlands...

Better gas prices too.

KDX · **Reply #145 on:** March 23, 2013, 02:58:39 AM

I made a deal on a new Hyundai Santa Fe today and am pretty excited. Hopefully I'm not sick of it by the time I'm done paying for it.

Heinz Doofenshmirtz · **Reply #146 on:** March 23, 2013, 05:28:07 AM

Okay, I can't resist... Here's my ride...

I have to say though, I still don't understand why you drive a car when all you do is sit inside it, and you ride a bike, when it's the rider who provides the forward momentum...